


Secret Santa

by rainsoakedshoes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, F/M, Fluff, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 05:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8877778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: Allison looks at the name on the creased piece of paper in her hand and frowns.
This is all Stiles’ fault. He and Kira are to blame for this. Stiles had sarcastically suggested the whole pack do a secret santa gift exchange, and Kira had jumped on the idea, determined to make it a reality. At first Allison had been excited for it. It seemed like a fun little thing they could do as a pack, since things in Beacon Hills seem to be calm and they have free time. 
Now though, Allison is regretting her decision to participate. She’s staring at the paper as though sheer will can change the name written there in blue ink.
 
  Derek Hale.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone!!! so i had the idea for this fic like a year ago, and i finally decided to write it down. 
> 
> so here is an early christmas present for all of you. its a short, fluffy, silly little fic about gift giving and derek and allison slowly getting closer. bc you can rip this ship out of my cold dead hands. 
> 
> also this is unbeta'd and im publishing it at 1am, so im sorry for any massive mistakes

Allison looks at the name on the creased piece of paper in her hand and frowns. 

This is all Stiles’ fault. He and Kira are to blame for this. Stiles had sarcastically suggested the whole pack do a secret santa gift exchange, and Kira had jumped on the idea, determined to make it a reality. At first Allison had been excited for it. It seemed like a fun little thing they could do as a pack, since things in Beacon Hills seem to be calm and they have free time. 

Now though, Allison is regretting her decision to participate. She’s staring at the paper as though sheer will can change the name written there in blue ink. 

_ Derek Hale.  _

It’s not as though Allison hates Derek. Not anymore. Not after everything they’ve been though. That doesn’t make it any easier to think of something to buy him. 

Allison sighs and folds the piece of paper back up, then slips it into her pocket. This fun little thing just turned into a challenge. 

*

The whole point of a secret santa is to keep it  _ secret _ . No one is supposed to know who she's buying for, but she needs help with this. 

Stiles is the first person she manages to catch alone. It seems fitting to ask him for help, since he  _ is  _ the reason she’d in this mess. She shows him the small slip of paper and he laughs. 

“I didn’t show you so you could laugh at me!” Allison says. “I showed you so you can help.” 

“Sorry,” Stiles says. “I just thought I had it tough trying to buy for Liam.” 

Allison looks at him with pleading eyes. “What should I get him?” 

Stiles thinks about it for a few moments. “Why don’t you get him a gag gift?” He finally suggests.

“Like what?” Allison asks. 

Stiles shrugs and looks up from the book he’s bent over. “I don’t know. Something ridiculous. ”

Allison bites the inside of her cheek. This is supposed to be a serious present exchanged. “I’ll keep thinking,” she says. 

“Good luck,” Stiles tells her. 

*

Shopping has never been this hard for Allison before. She’s never been so stuck on what to buy as a gift for someone. It makes her feel guilty almost, that after all this time she really doesn’t have any clue what Derek might like. Of course they’ve never been close. They’ve never spent a lot of time alone or talking. Still, she thinks, by now she should know  _ something  _ about Derek. He’s as closed off and as much as a mystery as he’s always been. It’s frustrating. 

Allison sits down with her bags on a bench on the second floor of the shopping center. She pushes her hair out of her face and sighs. She’s been able to find gifts for everyone else she’s buying for, just not for Derek. There has to be something she can get him. 

Looking up, her attention is caught by a neon sign in the window of a shop to her right.  It’s a novelty store, selling gifts and miscellaneous items. It’s the kind of store she usually wouldn’t bother looking at, but she hasn’t had any luck anywhere else, so it’s worth a shot. 

Nothing jumps out at her at first. Stiles’ suggestion of a gag gift rolls around in her mind, but even if she was looking for something ridiculous nothing she sees feels  _ right  _ for Derek. Still, she makes her way through the small store and keeps looking. 

At the back of store there’s a rack of novelty aprons. The apron at the front is a standard “Kiss The Cook” apron. Allison looks through the rest of them, flicking through the different styles on the rack. Near the back she finds one that has an image of a muscular man’s naked torso. Allison laughs a little to herself. The image on the apron is pretty much exactly what Derek looks like shirtless anyway. She lingers with her hand on the apron, thinking about it as a gift. It certainly is ridiculous.  

_ So he can be shirtless and still protect himself while cooking,  _ Allison thinks to herself. 

It’s a dumb idea, but she hasn’t come up with anything better and she’s running out of time. She pulls the apron off the rack and takes it up to the cash register before she can change her mind. 

*

The actual gift exchange has Allison’s stomach twisting in knots. As soon as she walks into the loft she’s regretting the decision she made to purchase the apron. Will he like the gift? Will he think it’s funny? Will he think she’s an idiot? It’s too late now though. There’s no changing what’s been done, no turning back. So Allison keeps her head held high and walks over to meet the others, the gift held tightly in hand. 

Once the whole pack has arrived they all sit in a loose circle on the floor of the loft. They exchange gifts, then one by one start opening them. Admittedly Allison doesn’t pay all that much attention to the other gifts that are given. She’s too focused on the parcel Derek now holds loosely in his lap. 

After what feels like too long it’s Derek’s turn to open his gift. 

“We all know how often you’re shirtless,” Allison says as he unwraps the present. “So this is a way you can still be shirtless, but protect yourself while cooking.” 

There’s a moment of silence in which Derek looks at the gift, and Allison feels like she can’t breath. Then Derek smiles and  _ laughs _ . It’s such a rare sight seeing Derek genuinely laugh and smile. Allison feels relief and smiles as well. 

Derek unfolds the apron to show it off to the rest of the pack. The others all laugh too, and Allison feels silly for worrying so much over it. 

When it comes to Allison’s turn she opens her gift from Boyd to find a necklace with a pendant in the shape of an arrow. The arrow itself is silver, while the fletching is inlaid with black enamel. 

“Thank you,” Allison says, taking the necklace out of its box. “I love it.” 

“I know it’s a lot less lethal than the arrows you usually carry around,” Boyd jokes with a good natured smile. 

“It is,” Allison concedes with a smile of her own. “But I still like it.” She undoes the clasp and puts the necklace on. 

“Hey, Derek,” Isaac says. “Maybe you should put your gift on too.” 

Derek picks up the apron again and turns it over in his hands. Allison - along with Isaac and the rest of the pack - are expecting Derek to refuse, except he doesn’t. 

“Maybe I should,” Derek agrees. He slips the neck strap on over his head, then ties the waist strings in a loose knot behind his back. “What do you think?” He leans back, putting his weight on the palms of his hands so everyone can see the apron clearly. 

“It’s a good look,” Scott tells him, almost managing to say it with a straight face. 

“I think I made the right choice in purchasing that,” Allison says.

Derek looks down at the glistening muscles printed on the apron and laughs again. “Me too.” 

Allison can’t help the wide grin that breaks out across her face. She’s incredibly pleased that her silly gift has gone over so well, and that she’s shown Derek Hale really does have a good sense of humour. 

*

Allison doesn’t expect to think about the apron after the exchange. For a couple of weeks her expectations are correct. Christmas and New Year’s are blissfully quiet in Beacon Hills and pass without incident. It’s not until halfway through January that every member of the pack is back in town, and they organise another pack meeting. 

In a move that surprises everyone, Derek offers to cook for the meeting. He says it makes sense, =they’re going to be in his loft anyway, and it will save money since they won’t have to buy take out. No one can think of any way or any reason to argue with that logic, so they go along with Derek’s plan. 

Allison doesn’t usually show up early to pack meetings. Often she arrives with Lydia. This time however she doesn’t have anything planned, and finds herself driving alone over to Derek’s loft half an hour before she needs to be there. 

When Allison lets herself into the loft Derek is in the kitchen with his back to her. He puts down what he’s holding and turns to greet her. 

Allison freezes for a moment then bursts out laughing. “You’re wearing the apron!”she exclaims when she calms down enough to talk. 

Derek looks down at himself. “I am,” he says with a nod. “I’m cooking.” 

“I just.” Allison takes a breath to stop herself from laughing again. “I just didn’t expect you to actually use it,” she explains. “I didn’t even know you could cook.” 

Derek shrugs and turns back to what he was doing. “It’s something I picked up that I like doing,” he says. “I’ve actually been meaning to buy an apron for a while, so your present is actually pretty useful.”

Allison walks over to join Derek in the kitchen. There’s a large pot of what looks like chili simmering on the stove top , and it smells amazing. “Really?” she asks. 

Derek’s serious expression cracks and he laughs. “No,” he says. “I heard you coming up so I grabbed it and put it on to see how you’d react.” 

Allison slaps him lightly on the arm. “You asshole!” She laughs and shoves him as well for good measure. “You really had me going.” 

Derek reaches behind his back to untie the strings of the apron. He slips it off and puts it to the side. “I do like cooking,” he he says. “That part wasn’t a lie.”

“It looks really good,” she tells him. “I’m not very good at cooking. I mean, I can cook a few things, but mostly I stay out of the kitchen.” 

She almost mentions how her mother was the cook of the family, but decides her mother may not be the best topic of conversation with Derek. The conversation at the moment is easy and light, and she doesn’t want to do anything to change that. 

“Do you want to try some?” Derek asks. He picks up a clean spoon off the counter and scoops come of the chili out of the pot, holding it out for Allison before she can reply. 

Allison lets out a surprised little laugh, but nods. “Uh, okay.” 

She’s not about to let Derek feed her, so she takes the spoon from him. He relinquishes his hold easily enough, passing it over. Allison puts the small spoonful in her mouth, and almost as soon as it hits her tongue she makes a noise of approval. 

“That tastes even better than it looks,” she tells him once she’s swallowed. 

Derek has a pleased smile on his face as he takes the spoon back from Allison and places it on the counter. “Thanks.”

“I’m serious,” Allison says. “You should cook all the time.” 

Derek uses the wooden spoon in the pot to stir it. “I  _ do  _ cook all the time.” 

Allison rolls her eyes “You know what I mean. I hope this turns into a regular thing.” 

“I hope the others like my cooking as much as you do,” Derek says. 

“Well,” Allison says, picking the spoon back up off the counter. “If they don’t, you can always just cook for me.” She takes another spoonful of the chili, raising her eyebrows as she puts it in her mouth. 

“Is that so?” Derek asks. He takes the end of the spoon and pulls it back out out of Allison’s mouth. 

Allison nods, wiping her thumb across her lips to make sure she doesn’t have any chili on her mouth. “Of course,” she says. “After all, I’m the one who brought you the best Christmas present ever. It’s the least you can do.” 

Derek laughs at that, and Allison realises she really likes it when Derek laughs.

“Okay,” Derek agrees. “You’ll have to let me know what kind of food you like, so I can make if for you.” 

Allison grins and leans against the counter. “Deal.” 

**Author's Note:**

> (i might have a plan for a nsfw sequel to this, if people are interested)
> 
> you can come talk to me on [tumblr](http://fighthaus.tumblr.com/) if you like


End file.
